Format: ARC, Paperback

#BookReview What We Buried by Robert Rotenberg @RobertRotenberg @SimonSchusterCA #WhatWeBuried #RobertRotenberg #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview What We Buried by Robert Rotenberg @RobertRotenberg @SimonSchusterCA #WhatWeBuried #RobertRotenberg #SimonSchusterCA Title: What We Buried

Author: Robert Rotenberg

Published by: Simon & Schuster on Feb. 27, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A Toronto homicide detective is attacked at his doorstep when his investigation into possible links between the Nazi occupation of Italy and the murder of his brother decades later gets too close to the truth—in the new crime thriller from bestselling author Robert Rotenberg. Perfect for fans of Scott Turow and David Baldacci.

It’s been years since Daniel Kennicott’s brother, Michael, was shot and killed the night before he was about to depart for Gubbio, Italy. The case, never solved, has haunted Daniel ever since. Long suspecting the killing was tied to Michael’s planned trip but overwhelmed with grief, Daniel has put off going there—until now, the tenth anniversary of the murder.

As he’s about to leave, Daniel learns that his two mentors, detectives Ari Greene and Nora Bering, have been more involved in the investigation of Michael’s murder than he ever knew. And they’re concerned about Daniel’s safety. But why? Is Daniel risking his life—and those of others—by trying to uncover the truth?

When Daniel arrives in the bucolic Italian hill town, he learns the past has not been put to rest. Residents are still haunted by the brutal Nazi occupation, the brave acts of the local freedom fighters, and the swift savagery of German retribution.

And as Daniel delves into his family’s deadly connection to Gubbio, Ari Greene searches for a killer closer to home.

Inspired by the true story of the Forty Martyrs in Gubbio, Italy, during World War II, What We Buried is an extraordinary crime novel about troubled legacies, revenge, and the unbreakable bonds of family.

Review:

Compelling, suspenseful, and fast-paced!

What We Buried is an intense, ominous tale that takes us into the life of Toronto detective Daniel Kennicott who, on the tenth anniversary of his brother’s murder, heads to Gubbio, Italy, to finally discover what his brother was working on before his death and uncover all the deep dark family secrets leading back to WWII that may have led to it.

The prose is meticulous and tight. The characters are persistent, troubled, and resourceful. And the plot, told from multiple perspectives, is an insightful, menacing tale about life, loss, tragedy, danger, desperation, secrets, survival, manipulation, betrayal, deception, deduction, violence, and wartime brutalities.

Overall, What We Buried is an absorbing, mysterious, well-written tale by Rotennberg inspired by real-life events that does a wonderful job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into an insightful, sinister tale that is intriguing and highly entertaining.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Robert Rotenberg

Robert Rotenberg is the author of several bestselling novels, including Old City Hall, The Guilty Plea, Stray Bullets, Stranglehold, Heart of the City, and Downfall. He is a criminal lawyer in Toronto with his firm Rotenberg Shidlowski Jesin. He is also a television screenwriter and a writing teacher.

Photo by Ted Feld Photography.

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#BookReview Leave No Trace by A. J. Landau @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AJLandau #LeaveNoTrace #NationalParksThriller

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#BookReview Leave No Trace by A. J. Landau @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #MinotaurInfluencers #AJLandau #LeaveNoTrace #NationalParksThriller Title: Leave No Trace

Author: A. J. Landau

Series: National Parks Thriller #1

Published by: Minotaur Books on Feb. 27, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In a daring, brutal act of terrorism, an explosion rocks and topples the Statue of Liberty. Special Agent Michael Walker of the National Park Service is awakened by his boss with that news and sent to New York as the agent-in-charge. Not long after he lands, he learns two things – one that Gina Delgado of the FBI has been placed in charge of the investigation as the lead of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and two, that threats of a second terrorism attack are already being called into the media. While barred from the meetings of the Joint Task Force for his lack of security clearance, Walker finds a young boy among the survivors with a critical piece of information – a video linking the attackers to the assault.

As a radical domestic terrorist group, led by a shadowy figure known only as Jebediah, threatens further attacks against America’s cultural symbols, powerful forces within the government are misleading the investigation to further their own radical agenda.

Review:

Propulsive, twisty, and intense!

Leave No Trace is a sinister, action-packed thrill ride featuring the tenacious FBI ASAC Gina Delgado and the steadfast National Park Service ISB agent Michael Walker as they join forces to hunt down a group of cold, calculating mercenaries who are driven by vengeance, have their own deadly agenda, and are intent on causing as much destruction and devastation as they possibly can.

The writing is tight and crisp. The characters are astute, tenacious, and persistent. And the plot, with its short, intense chapters, keeps you on the edge of your seat as it immerses you, page after page, into a world full of terrorism, politics, revenge, corruption, coercion, military operations, and domestic terrorist drama.

Overall, Leave No Trace is a meticulous, compelling, intricate mystery by this creative writing duo that kept me highly entertained from the very first page and left me more than a little eager to read what Walker and Delgado manage to get mixed up in next.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About A. J. Landau

A. J. LANDAU is the pseudonym for two authors, Jon Land, the award-winning, bestselling author and co-author of more than fifty books, and Jeff Ayers, reviewer, former-librarian, and author. Land lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and Jeff Ayers lives in Seattle, Washington.

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#BookReview Lilith by Eric Rickstad @ericrickstad @BlackstoneAudio #EricRickstad #Lilith #BlackstonePublishing

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#BookReview Lilith by Eric Rickstad @ericrickstad @BlackstoneAudio #EricRickstad #Lilith #BlackstonePublishing Title: Lilith

Author: Eric Rickstad

Published by: Blackstone Publishing on Mar. 19, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 245

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Blackstone Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of I Am Not Who You Think I Am—a New York Times Thriller of the Year—comes Lilith, an incendiary powerhouse of a novel that strikes straight at the wounded heart of America.

After her son Lydan suffers traumatic injuries in a school shooting, single mom Elisabeth Ross grows enraged at men in power. If they won’t do anything to help end this epidemic of violence, she will. Believing it’s her destiny, she sets out to awaken the world to the cowards these men are and commits her own shocking act of violence.

Going by the name Lilith—the first wife of Adam who fled Eden rather than serve a man—she posts a video of her crime that reverberates throughout society.

Praised by some, demonized by others, and sought by the FBI and vigilantes alike, Elisabeth must keep her identity a secret as she tries to care for her son.

As events take startling twists, Elisabeth begins to question her act of violence and the very roots and mythology of violence itself. Was her act justified or has she become the monster that the original Lilith was accused of being?

When the FBI draws closer, and Lydan starts to display odd, terrifying behavior, Elisabeth plots to avoid capture and keep her son safe, fearing she’ll never escape what she’s done without losing her son forever.

Written with Rickstad’s singular command of language, human insight, and unnerving suspense, Lilith is a tale of our times. Tragic and profound, it echoes in the mind and lingers in the blood.

Review:

Powerful, haunting, memorable, and timely!

Lilith is a gritty, moving, frightening tale that takes you into the life of elementary school teacher and single mother Elisabeth Ross who, after a school shooting leaves her son Lydan physically and emotionally changed, damaged and scarred forever, takes it upon herself to retaliate and enact her own style of vengeance on those who turn a blind eye to gun violence and prosper by the sale of these deadly weapons that steal too many innocent lives.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, troubled, and strong. And the plot is a raw, absorbing tale about life, loss, love, grief, strength, parenthood, hope, survival, violence, injustice, community, unconscionable politics, and fear.

Overall, Lilith makes you think, it makes you feel, and it ultimately resonates long after the final page. It’s a beautifully written, sobering, impactful tale by Rickstad that uses extraordinary character development to weave a combination of an impressive, sad mystery with a heartrending, realistic tale, all steeped in an abundance of preventable tragedies and unimaginable pain that highlights just how blurry the line between right and wrong can truly often be.

This novel is available March 19, 2024.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Eric Rickstad

Eric Rickstad is the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Who You Think I Am, Reap, What Remains of Her, and the Canaan Crime Trilogy, which has sold more than a half million copies worldwide. He lives in Vermont with his wife, daughter, and son.

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#BookReview Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera @amytintera @CeladonBooks #AmyTintera #ListenForTheLie #CeladonBooks #CeladonReads #partner

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#BookReview Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera @amytintera @CeladonBooks #AmyTintera #ListenForTheLie #CeladonBooks #CeladonReads #partner Title: Listen for the Lie

Author: Amy Tintera

Published by: Celadon Books on Mar. 5, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Celadon Books

Book Rating: 9/10

What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn’t matter?

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.

But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast “Listen for the Lie,” and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.

Review:

Sophisticated, twisty, and gripping!

Listen for the Lie is an edgy, menacing tale that takes you into the life of Lucy Chase, a young woman who, after staying as far away from her hometown as she possibly could for the past five years, reluctantly returns to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday even knowing that the whole town still thinks she murdered her best friend and the persistent true-crime podcaster Ben Owens is hanging around stirring up trouble and trying to finally discover what really happened on that stormy night all those years ago.

The writing is brisk and tight. The characters are layered, secretive, and troubled. And the plot builds quickly as it twists, turns and unravels all the personalities, motivations, actions, and relationships within it.

Overall, Listen for the Lie, at its core, is a novel about family, friendship, secrets, manipulation, obsession, red herrings, revelations, violence, and murder. It’s a fast-paced, riveting, tortuous tale by Tintera that highlights everything is not always as it seems and is a real page-turner I highly recommend, and one you definitely don’t want to miss.

 

This novel is available March 5, 2024.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Celadon Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Amy Tintera

Amy Tintera is the New York Times bestselling author of several series for young adults. She earned degrees in journalism and film and worked in Hollywood before becoming an author. Raised in Austin, Texas, she frequently sets her novels in the Lone Star State, but she now lives in Los Angeles, where there’s far less humidity but not nearly enough Tex-Mex. Listen for the Lie is her adult debut.

Photo credit: Stephanie Girard

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#BookReview Batshit Seven by Sheung-King @PenguinRandomCA #SheungKing #BatshitSeven #PenguinReads

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#BookReview Batshit Seven by Sheung-King @PenguinRandomCA #SheungKing #BatshitSeven #PenguinReads Title: Batshit Seven

Author: Sheung-King

Published by: Penguin Canada on Feb. 20, 2024

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

From Governor General’s Award-nominated author Sheung-King comes a novel about a millennial living through the Hong Kong protests, as he struggles to make sense of modern life and the parts of himself that just won’t gel.

Glen Wu (aka Glue) couldn’t care less about his job. He’s returned to Hong Kong, the city he grew up in, and he’s teaching ESL, just to placate his parents. But he shows up hungover to class, barely stays awake, and prefers to spend his time smoking up until dawn breaks.
 
As he watches the city he loves fall—the protests, the brutal arrests—life continues around him. So he drinks more, picks more fights with his drug dealer friend, thinks loftier thoughts about the post-colonial condition and Frantz Fanon. The very little he does care his sister, who deals with Hong Kong’s demise by getting engaged to a rich immigration consultant; his on-and-off-again relationship with a woman who steals things from him; and memories of someone he once met in Canada….
 
When the government tightens its grip, language starts to lose all meaning for Glue, and he finds himself pulled into an unsettling venture, ultimately culminating in an act of violence.
 
Inventive and utterly irresistible, with QR codes woven throughout, Sheung-King’s ingenious novel encapsulates the anxieties and apathies of the millennial experience. Batshit Seven is an ode to a beloved city, an indictment of the cycles of imperialism, and a reminder of the beautiful things left under the hype of commodified living.

Review:

Insightful, candid, and immersive!

Bathsit Seven is a unique, colourful tale that takes us into the life of Glen “Glue” Wu, a young man who, after spending a few years attending university in Canada, returns to a politically tense Hong Kong where he finds himself in a serious rut spending his days drinking, getting high, spending the occasional time with platonic friends as well as those with benefits, masturbating, lackadaisically teaching ESL remotely, and contemplating what he wants out of life and where he actually fits into the world.

The writing is creative and direct. The characters are lonely, impulsive, and insecure. And the plot, told through narration and a scattering of QR Codes, is an engaging, perceptive tale about life, friendship, family, culture, politics, orientalism, racism, and self-identity.

Overall, Batshit Seven is a captivating, well-written, astute tale by Sheung-King that highlights the true struggles of coming of age in a contemporary world that seems to increasingly be more overwhelming, judgemental, and stressful.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sheung-King

SHEUNG-KING’s debut novel, You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked., was a finalist for the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award. It was longlisted for Canada Reads 2021 and named one of the best book debuts by The Globe and Mail. Sheung-King taught creative writing at the University of Guelph, where he received his MFA. He divides his time between Canada and China.

Photo by Maari Sugawara.

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#BookReview The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes @SimonSchusterCA #TheYearoftheLocust #TerryHayes #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Year of the Locust by Terry Hayes @SimonSchusterCA #TheYearoftheLocust #TerryHayes #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Year of the Locust

Author: Terry Hayes

Published by: Atria/Emily Bestler Books on Feb. 06, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 800

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

If, like Kane, you’re a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again – by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide – and when to shoot.

But some places don’t play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane’s experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet are such a place – a place where violence is the only way to survive.

Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West – but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart…

Review:

Ominous, action-packed, and twisty!

The Year of the Locust is an intelligent, sinister tale that takes you into the life of CIA operative Kane, a man who has access to the deadliest secrets and who, after his initial operation in the Middle East goes sideways, ends up with an archenemy whose terror knows no bounds and if left unrestrained will happily destroy the world and the human race as we currently know it.

The prose is brisk and tight. The characters are vulnerable, resourceful, and persistent. And the plot is a unique, captivating tale full of greed, power, deception, coercion, manipulation, corruption, espionage, politics, destruction, danger, end-of-the-world mayhem, and murder.

Overall, The Year of the Locust is a hefty novel by Hayes, coming in around 800 pages. And even though it took a little detour, I wasn’t expecting and didn’t entirely love around the seventy-five percent mark. It is still undoubtedly an absorbing, creative, enthralling saga by Hayes that was highly entertaining and is a great choice for anyone who enjoys the spy thriller genre with a side of terminator-like science fiction.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Terry Hayes

Terry Hayes is the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Pilgrim and The Year of the Locust and is the award-winning writer and producer of numerous movies. His credits include Payback, Road Warrior, and Dead Calm (featuring Nicole Kidman). He lives in Switzerland with his wife, Kristen, and their four children.

Photograph © Stuart Simpson

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#BookReview The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller @CLMillerAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #CLMiller #TheAntiqueHuntersGuideToMurder #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller @CLMillerAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #CLMiller #TheAntiqueHuntersGuideToMurder #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder

Author: C.L. Miller

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Feb. 06, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A former antique hunter investigates the suspicious death of her estranged mentor at an isolated English manor and is drawn back into the dangerous world of repatriating stolen artifacts in this irresistible mystery debut for fans of Richard Osman.

Freya, it’s up to you to finish what I started…

Freya Lockwood has avoided the quaint English village where she grew up for the last twenty years. That is, until her eccentric Aunt Carole breaks the news that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and Freya’s estranged mentor, has unexpectedly died.

Then Freya receives a letter from Arthur, sent just days before his death, warning her that she is in danger. Suspecting he may have been murdered, she and Carole begin to investigate. When they discover Arthur’s journals and an invitation to an antiques enthusiasts’ weekend, Freya finds herself pulled back into a life she swore to leave behind.

Once more Freya is on the hunt. Following the clues and her rusty antique hunting instincts, she and Carole attend the retreat at an old manor where all is not as it seems. The antiques are bad reproductions, and the other guests are menacing and secretive.

Can Freya and Carole solve the mystery before the killer strikes again?

Review:

Mysterious, action-packed, and entertaining!

The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder is a suspenseful, engaging tale that takes us into the life of Freya Lockwood, a middle-aged mother of one who, after learning of the death of antique dealer extraordinaire Arthur Crockleford, her mentor and partner from twenty years ago, heads to the small village of Little Meddington to follow the clues he left behind to not only uncover how he actually died but to also discover what truly happened all those years ago when an antiques excursion they were on went tragically wrong.

The writing style is intricate and light. The characters are intelligent, adventurous, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, compelling whodunit full of red herrings, tricky situations, awkward moments, ruthless murder, danger, deduction, and amateur sleuthing.

Overall, The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder is an immersive, satisfying, wonderful debut by Miller that I could easily see becoming a must-read, enjoyable series for lovers of this genre.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About C.L. Miller

C. L. Miller started working life as an editorial assistant for her mother, Judith Miller, on The Miller’s Antique Price Guide and other antiquing guides. After she had children, she decided to follow her long-held dream of becoming an author and began concentrating on her writing full-time. She was an Undiscovered Voices 2022 and in the UV 2022 anthology. She lives in a medieval cottage in Dedham Vale, Suffolk, with her family.

Photograph © Dan Kennedy

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#BookReview Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander @_JennyHollander @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JennyHollander #EveryoneWhoCanForgiveMeIsDead #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander @_JennyHollander @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JennyHollander #EveryoneWhoCanForgiveMeIsDead #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead

Author: Jenny Hollander

Published by: Minotaur Books on Feb. 06, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

She has everything to live for—and everything to hide.

Nine years ago, with the world’s eyes on her, Charlie Colbert fled. The press and the police called Charlie a “witness” to the nightmarish events at her elite graduate school on Christmas Eve—events known to the public as “Scarlet Christmas”—though Charlie knows she was much more than that.

Now, Charlie has meticulously rebuilt her life: She’s the editor-in-chief of a major magazine, engaged to the golden child of the publishing industry, and hell-bent on never, ever letting her guard down again. But when a buzzy film made by one of Charlie’s former classmates threatens to shatter everything she’s worked for, Charlie realizes how much she’s changed in nine years. Now, she’s not going to let anything—not even the people she once loved most—get in her way.

Review:

Menacing, unpredictable, and compelling!

Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is an intense, mysterious tale that transports you into the life of successful NYC magazine editor and a victim of what the press dubbed “Scarlet Christmas” Charlotte Colbert, as her life gets turned upside down when the surviving twin sister of another victim decides to make a movie to honour the ten-year reunion of the tragedy causing the past to collide with the present, memories to come flooding back, long-buried secrets to be unearthed, and what truly happened on that ill-fated night when six journalism graduate students had their lives changed forever to finally come to light.

The writing is intricate and tight. The characters are scarred, self-involved, and secretive. And the plot, using flashbacks and a back-and-forth, past/present style, intertwines and unravels effortlessly into an ominous tale of manipulation, deception, lies, drama, jealousy, secrets, revelations, obsession, misdirection, mayhem, and murder.

Overall, Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is a captivating, sinister, promising debut by Hollander that kept me guessing from the very first page and left me chilled, surprised, and highly entertained.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Minotaur Books – St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jenny Hollander

JENNY HOLLANDER is the director of content strategy at Marie Claire, where she oversees the brand's daily coverage, as well as the #ReadithMC book club. Before moving to Marie Claire, she worked at Bustle. A graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, Jenny spent ten years in New York before moving back to her hometown of London. Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead is her first novel.

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#BookReview The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor @PenguinRandomCA #LoghanPaylor #TheCureForDrowning #PenguinReads

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#BookReview The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor @PenguinRandomCA #LoghanPaylor #TheCureForDrowning #PenguinReads Title: The Cure for Drowning

Author: Loghan Paylor

Published by: Random House Canada on Jan. 30, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Evocative, magical and luminously written, The Cure for Drowning is not only a brilliant, boundary-pushing love story but a Canadian historical novel that boldly centres queer and non-binary characters in unprecedented ways.

Born Kathleen to an immigrant Irish farming family in southern Ontario, Kit McNair has been a troublesome changeling since, at ten, they fell through the river ice and drowned—only to be nursed back to life by their mother’s Celtic magic. A daredevil in boy’s clothes, Kit chafes at every aspect of a farmgirl’s life, driving that same mother to distraction with worry about where Kit will ever fit in. When Rebekah Kromer, an elegant German-Canadian doctor’s daughter, moves to town with her parents in April 1939, Rebekah has no doubt as to who 19-year-old Kit is. Soon she and Kit, and Kit’s older brother, Landon, are drawn tight in a love triangle that will tear them and their families apart, and send each of them off on a separate path to war. 

Landon signs up for the Navy. Kit, now known as Christopher, joins the Royal Air Force, becoming a bomber navigator relied on for his luck and courage. Rebekah serves with naval intelligence in Halifax, until one more collision with Landon changes the course of her life and draws her back to the McNair farm—a place where she’d once known love. Fallen on even harder times, the McNairs welcome all the help she is able to give, and she believes she has found peace at last. Until, with the war over, Kit and Landon return home.

Told in the vivid, unforgettable voices of Kit and Rebekah, The Cure for Drowning is a powerfully engrossing novel that imagines a history that is truer than true.

Review:

Tempestuous, tender, and immersive!

The Cure for Drowning is a fresh, absorbing tale set in Southern Ontario during the early 1940s that takes us into the lives of three main characters. Kit, a young adventurous spirit who finds the love of their life in the daughter of the new local doctor; Landon, Kit’s older brother who is confident and charming and someone who follows his head more than his heart; and Rebekah, a young woman who feels torn between what society deems is appropriate and the feelings she has for both of the McNair siblings.

The writing is passionate and moving. The characters are hopeful, hesitant, and endearing. And the plot is an engaging, touching tale about life, loss, friendship, family, hope, heartbreak, tragedy, destiny, sexual identity, gender fluidity, fate, war, and enduring love.

Overall, The Cure for Drowning is a captivating, well-written, richly described debut by Paylor that highlights that love comes in many forms and is a beautiful reminder that to love and be loved is one of humanity’s most fundamental needs that transcends gender, sex, race, religion, and socioeconomics.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

      

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Loghan Paylor

LOGHAN PAYLOR is a queer, trans author who lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Their short fiction and essays have previously appeared in Room and Prairie Fire, among others. Paylor has a Master's in creative writing from the University of British Columbia, and a day job as a professional geek. The Cure for Drowning is their first novel.

Photo by Michael Paylor.

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#BookReview Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin @eraustinauthor @SimonSchusterCA #InterestingFactsAboutSpace #EmilyAustin #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin @eraustinauthor @SimonSchusterCA #InterestingFactsAboutSpace #EmilyAustin #SimonSchusterCA Title: Interesting Facts About Space

Author: Emily Austin

Published by: Atria Books on Jan. 30, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A fast-paced, hilarious, and ultimately hopeful novel for anyone who has ever worried they might be a terrible person—from the bestselling author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead .

Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you all about black holes and their ability to spaghettify you without batting an eye in fear. Her one major phobia? Bald men. But she tries to keep that one under wraps. When she’s not listening to her favorite true crime podcasts on a loop, she’s serially dating a rotation of women from dating apps. At the same time, she’s trying to forge a new relationship with her estranged half-sisters after the death of her absent father. When she unwittingly plunges into her first serious romantic entanglement, Enid starts to believe that someone is following her.

As her paranoia spirals out of control, Enid must contend with her mounting suspicion that something is seriously wrong with her. Because at the end of the day there’s only one person she can’t outrun—herself.

Brimming with quirky humor, charm, and heart, Interesting Facts about Space effortlessly shows us the power of revealing our secret shames, the most beautifully human parts of us all.

Review:

Quirky, hopeful, and engaging!

Interesting Facts About Space is a sweet, intimate novel that immerses you into the life of Enid, a young woman who uses her love and knowledge of space to help cope with a mom whom she loves dearly but who randomly suffers from mood disorders, a love life that ebbs and flows but is always easier if it never involves too many emotions, two half-sisters who she is never quite sure how to behave around, and a strong, paralyzing phobia of man who are bald.

The prose is sincere and light. The characters are eccentric, multi-layered, and vulnerable. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, love, family, friendship, desires, needs, insecurities, childhood trauma, complex relationships, and mental health.

Overall, Interesting Facts About Space is a unique, tender, humorous tale by Austin that does a beautiful job of highlighting the struggles of being able to perform daily activities, forge true friendships, and experience an all-encompassing love, all while being neurodivergent.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

             

 

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Emily Austin

Emily R. Austin was born in Ontario, Canada, and received a writing grant from the Canadian Council for the Arts in 2020. She studied English literature and library science at Western University. She currently lives in Ottawa. Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is her first novel.

Photo by Bridget Forberg.

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